A Better Tomorrow
by pandaholic
Summary: Sakura's been with the Akatsuki for ten years. But she has no problem about staying with Sranked missingnin criminals! But Konoha, on the other hand, won't stand for it...especially after the murder of her family before her disappearance. ItaSakuSasu
1. Begin

**A Better Tomorrow**  
_Written by pandaholic._

**Chapter 1** - _Begin_

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**Disclaimer: **Naruto does not belong to me.

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"_No! Stop it! Please! Stop it!" _

Screams.

Blood.

What was there left in life?

"_Stop it! Don't kill Kaa-san and Tou-san! STOP! Please!" _

Twisted smiles.

Glittering eyes.

What was there left in life?

"_Wake up! Kaa-san! Tou-san! Don't leave me! Wake up!"_

Tiny fingers caressing cold corpses drowned in blood.

Emerald eyes drowning in batches of tears...

What was there left in life?

"_Stop! Don't pick me up! No! Go away! STOP IT!" _

Mysterious voices.

Deep baritones.

Scary blood-red eyes.

And his cold hands slapping across the young face,

Temporarily silencing her as her eyes closed.

_What was there left in life?_

* * *

"_Wake up, Sakura-chan, yeah." _

Emerald eyes slowly opened to the new day, the sunlight nearly blinding her unused eyes. She slowly got up into a sitting position, rubbing her eyes as they adjusted to the sunlight.

"_Good morning, Sakura-chan. It's a nice day, yeah." _

A small smile played on her lips as she nodded happily, as if she were still a seven-year-old child. But alas, ten years have passed since her bitter memories of being taken away from her village. Ten years since she had last cried.

"Hai, Deidara-chan. It's a nice day."

"_You should get in the shower soon, yeah. Itachi-sama may be looking for you." _

"Hai, Deidara-chan. Has _sensei _given you new missions yet?"

_"What did I tell you about calling me Deidara-chan, Sakura-chan? We don't know, we have a meeting with him, yeah. If we're all sent to the mission, Sensei will probably make you train, yeah. Have you been getting better, un?"_

Sakura let a small giggle escape, and she nodded happily.

"I don't care, Deidara-chan! Even Saso-kun can't make me stop calling you Deidara-chan. But maybe Itachi-sama might. Itachi-sama scares me at times. But don't tell Itachi-sama that it annoys you, yeah?"

The man stifled his anger behind his long cloak, and waited patiently for the girl's next answer.

"But anyway, Deidara-chan, Maeda-sensei says I've been getting better."

Deidara nodded approvingly.

_"I don't trust you with that Maeda woman, yeah. She used to be with that Orochimaru guy, yeah. She might betray us to that snake-man, yeah."_

Sakura shrugged, getting up from her place on the bed. She slowly walked over to her bedroom mirror, where she brushed her bubblegum pink hair with care.

"Maeda-sensei says Orochimaru is too scared of Itachi-sama. She said even if she did betray us, Orochimaru would be unaffected by the information."

Deidara's eyes widened in interest and concern.

_"Sakura-chan, don't be so stupid, yeah. Orochimaru's been part of many of our plots, you know. He would take any chance he gets to get revenge on Itachi-sama, yeah. Did you tell her anything?"_

Sakura shrugged, jumping out of her place in front of her mirror and back onto the bed to continue her conversation with Deidara.

_"What do you mean, 'you don't know'. What's that Maeda woman been teaching you, un?"_

Sakura smiled at her best friend in the Akatsuki.

"Maeda-sensei says she's derived it from one of Orochimaru's former colleagues, Tsunade."

Deidara motioned her to continue.

"She says that because my chakra control is so precise, she was able to teach the techniques to me with no problem. I just channel all my chakra into my hands, and when I make contact with an object or person, I release my chakra, and it gives me inhuman strength. Maeda-sensei also taught me medical techniques. She said she stole it from Yakushi Kabuto, with most of the techniques also derived from this Tsunade woman."

_"You may be of use to us soon, Sakura-chan, yeah. What has that woman said about your strength?"_

Sakura smiled at this question, and she happily jumped up from her bed and walked in front of her colleague, and vixen-like grin playing on her rosy lips.

"She says that if I lived in Konoha, wherever that is, this Tsunade woman would have taken to me, and I'd be one of the strongest. Maybe we should spar sometime, Deidara-chan. I'll help you with taijutsu and you help me with longer-range attacks."

Deidara nodded approvingly.

_"Yes, you will be of use to us soon. Now get in that shower, yeah. Itachi-sama might get mad at you if he summons us and you're still in your pajamas with that kind of hair, yeah."_

Sakura giggled and nodded in reply. Before leaving, she gave Deidara a hug, intentionally angering him.

_"Be serious, Sakura-chan! You're part of the Akatsuki, yeah! We always have to be serious, un."_

Sakura nodded, the vixen-like smile returning onto her face as she ran to the bathroom and shut the door. Deidara shook his head disapprovingly, and gently closed her bedroom door behind him as he walked deeper into his home.

* * *

_Hopefully, Sakura-chan, Itachi-sama won't send you back to where he took you, yeah. You may not know it, but you're worth more than a life to Itachi-sama, yeah.

* * *

_"Tsunade-baa-chan! We can't find this girl that we've been looking for, ever since she was missing! What's her name, Haruno Sakura? She may be happy where she is! She has no family left here, anyway!" A blond yelled. 

The blond's partner rolled his eyes in annoyance, his body stoically standing by the office window. His onyx eyes scanned the outside world carefully.

"Our efforts won't be wasted. You two are my top ANBU captains! You don't know how much I had to persuade the Council to let me have you two on the same team."

The blond continued to stare at the Hokage, his emotions bleeding out from his cerulean eyes.

"You don't get it, Tsunade-baa-chan! Why are we putting so much effort into finding a girl with no family here? She may be happy where she is!"

The Hokage stared at the ninja before her, her eyes scanning deeper and deeper into the blond and his raven-haired partner.

"Sources report that she's staying with Akatsuki. However, their definite location is still unknown. Now tell me, what kind of person would be happy with a band of S-ranked missing-nin criminals?"

The blond huffed in defeat.

"Hokage-sama," the raven-haired teen cut in, "who are these sources?"

Godaime Tsunade focused her attention to the sole survivor of the Uchiha massacre, a small smile creeping on her lips.

_"An old, old apprentice of mine...Takashi Maeda."_

* * *

**TBC.**

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**A/N**: Thank you for reading the first chapter! I know I already added a few twists and turns, but it makes things more interesting, right? Also, this is NOT going to turn out to be a SakuxDeidara. It will remain solely ItaxSakuxSasu.

I know Sasori's supposed to be dead, but this is my fanfiction, so pretend he's alive, kay? (:

Thanks for reading!


	2. Realize

**A Better Tomorrow**  
_Written by pandaholic. _

**Chapter 2 – **_Realize_

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**Disclaimer: **Naruto does not belong to me.

* * *

The hyperactive blond and the stoic raven-haired teen walked side-by-side in the hot afternoon, their footsteps the only thing similar between them. The blond chattered on and on to no end, regardless that his teammate was paying no attention to a word he said. Instead, the teen's mind was elsewhere, wandering, searching for an answer. 

_Haruno Sakura._

_Haruno Sakura._

That name sounded familiar; did he know her from somewhere?

_She was taken away at her age of seven. When the stench of death drifted out of her old home, ANBU that were near the scene broke into the house and found her parents dead. There was no trace left of Sakura._

He was around her age. She was only seven when she was taken away...so that would mean he was seven as well.

_It was an odd time for Konoha. The Uchiha and the Haruno clans were both annihilated. Only one sole survivor was left in each. It was ironic, and perhaps one could call it destiny, that the two sole survivors of some of the most prestigious clans were the same age._

His mind continued to wander, and he was led deeper and deeper into bitter memories the harder he thought about how that name sounded familiar to him.

_With the fall of the Uchiha and Haruno clans, the brightest shinobi Konoha has ever seen, Uchiha Itachi, disappeared the same time as the Haruno heir, Haruno Sakura..._

A light bulb lit up the Uchiha's mind, a wave of overwhelming discover passing through the Uchiha's veins. His eyes flashed a dangerous red, the three tomoe twirling dangerously fast.

"Whoa there, Sasuke, something wrong?" The blond asked, curious about the random flash of Sharingan eyes.

The Uchiha tightly clenched his fists, digging his nails deeper and deeper into his palms, his knuckles turning white, and a trail of blood beginning to form beneath his nails. His Sharingan eyes continue to whirl, and his body seemed to tense up.

"Sasuke? Sasuke?" The blond continued.

The raven-haired teen turned to his partner slowly, his body still tensed and his palms still bleeding.

"_We need to see Hokage-sama. We shall see if this Takashi Maeda woman will give away the Akatsuki's current hideout. It seems I know where to find Haruno Sakura...and Uchiha Itachi." _

The blond looked aghast, his cerulean eyes widened in surprise. When his teammate moved his hands together to immediately bring him to the Hokage tower, the blond followed in quick procession.

But the Uchiha was still left clueless, his mind still racking itself deeper and deeper for one more answer...

_Did he know Haruno Sakura?_**  
**

* * *

"_You're doing this all wrong, Sakura-chan. What's into you today?" _

Sakura got up from her place on the grass, wiping her face of its immense amount of sweat. Blood was lightly splattered across her arm, and her usually well-kept hair was a tangle. Her emerald eyes looked into the dark purple of her sensei's.

"I'm sorry, Maeda-sensei. It's so hot out here, I can't focus with the heat," She calmly replied.

_No, I have a random thought that Itachi-sama looks like an old person I used to know. And this resemblance is uncanny. Every time I see Itachi-sama with his Kekkei Genkai invisible, and when I see Itachi-sama with those regular onyx eyes, a young boy pops into mind..._

"...Sakura-chan! _Sakura!_"

Sakura once again looked into the dark purple orbs of her sensei, and was met with a hard slap across her face. She fell from the sudden impact.

"You must listen to me, girl."

Sakura inwardly winced at her sensei's tone of voice, and she saw a new glint in her sensei's eyes she had never seen before.

"Listen Sakura-chan, you have to get away..."

Before Maeda could finish her sentence, she was interrupted with the rustling of the forest trees surrounding her and her pupil.

"_Maeda-san, am I interrupting something?" _

Sakura's eyes lit pup, and jumped up from her place on the grass and tackled the person down on the ground. The man sighed in annoyance, and returned the embrace, a hidden look of surprise and happiness locked away behind his hard eyes.

"Itachi-sama!"

She dug her head deeper within her chest, regardless of the fact that he hated it when she showed her affection. The one thing he loathed was _love_.

"Sakura-chan...didn't Deidara already..."

Sakura giggled, pulling her head away from his dark cloak. The vixen-like smile that Deidara had seen in her when he had first seen her in the morning was present on her lips.

"Hai, Deidara-chan already told me that 'Akatsuki must be serious and calm at all times'. But I'm not really part of Akatsuki, ne Itachi-sama?"

"_It seems that I must be the one interrupting something here, Sakura-chan, Itachi-san." _

The two sat up properly and stared at Maeda, embarrassed that they had forgotten about her presence so quickly.

"_I will just come back to train with you tomorrow, Sakura-chan. It seems that Itachi-san may need to share some important information with you." _

Sakura began to quickly stand, but the firm grip of Itachi kept her firmly planted on the ground. His tomoe were dangerously spinning, one blink threatening to release the power of the Mangekyou Sharingan.

"Another day, Maeda-san," Itachi calmly stated, tints of hidden anger found in his baritone.

Maeda forced her lips to form a polite smile, and she respectfully bowed to her master.

"Hai, Itachi-san. As you wish. See you soon, Sakura-chan."

Before Maeda could disappear, Itachi was behind her in an instant, holding her in a position where Sakura couldn't see, but where she couldn't escape. A hidden kunai was held at her back, and she winced at his deadly grip.

"_I'm watching you and Sakura-chan closely, Maeda-san," _he paused and gripped her tighter, _"you may not know what you're doing until you pay the consequences." _

Maeda smirked and laughed, a mysterious glint present in her eyes.

"Unfortunately, Itachi-san, I know perfectly well what I am doing."

Itachi returned the smirk, the grip on the woman slowly lessening.

"_If you must insist, Maeda-san." _

The grip on her completely loosened, and the two remained where they stood for a few moments.

"You should return to Sakura-chan, Itachi-san. I do not like the aura coming from her."

With that, Maeda disappeared, and Itachi turned around, finding Sakura completely baffled and angry. He sweatdropped and began his way back to the hideout, instinctively knowing that Sakura would follow.

"What were you doing with Maeda-sensei, Itachi-sama?" Sakura asked after catching up to him, jealousy evident in her voice.

"Why does it matter what I was doing with that woman, Sakura-chan?" Itachi playfully asked, secretly slowing his pace so she would be able to continue with him.

When he was met with silence and a red-faced Sakura, a hidden smile played on his lips, and only the heavens knew what that smile looked like. For Uchiha Itachi never smiled.

"You weren't jealous, were you?" He pursued.

Sakura cutely pouted, crossing her arms like a little girl, and glared at him through her emerald eyes.

"It's not nice to play around with my emotions, Itachi-sama."

Itachi shrugged, unaffected by her remark. He failed to notice that vixen-like grin playing on her lips.

"...I mean Itachi-_kun._"

With that, he stopped dead in his tracks, his Sharingan twirling dangerously fast. But it's been ten years that Sakura had seen those dangerous eyes daily, and she was not intimidated.

"Can I call you Itachi-kun from now on?"

She turned to look at him, a newfound happiness shining in her eyes. The vixen's grin was gone from her lips; instead was an innocent smile, making her look like a goddess amidst the forest. Itachi stood there stoically, his heart unknowingly shattering to pieces. His voice left him temporarily as he looked for the answer within him, trying to calm the monster within him.

"Hai, Sakura-chan...hai..."

Her emerald eyes widened, and she once again tackled him to the forest floor, burying her head deeper into his chest.

"Really, Itachi-kun?"

He closed his eyes and brought her closer to him, his mind losing all its stability and security.

"Hai, Sakura-chan."

She smiled, closing her eyes against the fabric.

"Itachi-kun..." She whispered, drifting off into sleep.

He waited in silence, knowing that she was not finished.

"...I love you, Itachi-kun..." She continued, the serenity of sleep overtaking her.

At that moment, Itachi's heart shattered into pieces, but he made no move to remove her from him. Regardless of the dangers of the other members of the Akatsuki finding them like this, she was their favorite little girl, and Deidara would most likely cover for him. It was Deidara, in fact, that warned Itachi not to get closer to the girl when she began aging and taking a liking to them. But it was Itachi who disregarded Deidara's warning, always giving him the, "I am not allowed to love" reply. And it was Deidara who knew then that such a predicament would happen someday. And it was Itachi that was caught in the mess.

* * *

_Will I ever be able to love you, Sakura-chan? _

* * *

Sasuke and Naruto once again stood within the office of the Godaime, her eyes eyeing them suspiciously. 

"Is there something important we need to speak of, boys?"

Naruto stepped back and took his place next to the window, knowing that there was no comment or information he would dispose, as this was all his teammate's doing and knowledge. Tsunade noticed this, and averted her focus on the Uchiha before her.

"I know this Haruno's whereabouts if you know where Akatsuki is currently residing."

"If I did, I would have sent you to infiltrate them by now."

Sasuke held back his anger respectfully, eyeing his Hokage, the Sharingan threatening to release.

"Get this Takashi Maeda woman to tell you where they are."

"I don't take orders from you, Uchiha."

Sasuke clenched his fists, a smirk present on his lips.

"If you want me to complete this mission, I _suggest_. Until I am summoned, Hokage-sama."

He bowed respectfully and disappeared, leaving his teammate and Hokage baffled with no words to say.

* * *

The sky was dyed a beautiful orange-red hue, and the sun began to set. Sasuke walked home in the serenity of the early evening, his ears secretly admiring the joyful laughter of the people of his village. He abruptly stopped in front of a field with a lone cherry blossom blooming, surrounded with an array of flowers. He knew not why he stopped here; it was a mysterious habit of his that he could not explain. He just stopped there for as long as he could remember, and every time, an invisible force brought him to the lone tree. Like all times, he sat beneath the sheltering branches of the cherry blossom, staring off into the horizon. 

_Haruno Sakura._

_Haruno Sakura._

There was that name again. The name that would not leave his mind. A gust of wind suddenly blew, bringing cherry blossoms twirling all around him. One in full bloom landed in his palm, and his eyes gently stared at it, as if it were a fragile life within his hand.

_Haruno Sakura._

_Haruno Sakura._

He continued looking at the cherry blossom, vague memories beginning to form within his mind.

_Haruno Sakura..._

And that was when tears were nearly released from his onyx eyes.

* * *

**tbc.**


End file.
